Guiding Principles and Strategies

1. Guiding Principles and Strategies Transportation Strategy Board March 17, 2010

2. Overview • Last (2007) Transportation Strategy included: • Eight Guiding Principles • New in 2007 • Three Strategies • Carried forward from 2003 Strategy

3. Guiding Principles

4. Guiding Principles • A balanced transportation system is essential to Connecticut’s economic and social health and welfare. That system must provide mobility for people and goods in a way which meets the needs of users, business and commerce.

5. Guiding Principles • Connecticut’s transportation system must be multi-modal and provide options to the single passenger automobile.

6. Guiding Principles • Connecticut’s transportation system represents an investment in the state’s future which must be maintained and preserved. It requires both strategic investments and on-going operating and capital support. It also requires efficient, cost effective, management and operations which make the best use of available resources.

7. Guiding Principles • Transportation policy does not exist in a vacuum; it must also reflect the economic, social and environmental needs and policies of the state. Transportation investments, or the lack of them, can be an important factor in influencing economic development and job growth. Likewise, proper planning of transportation infrastructure and improvements can positively influence housing, land use and commutation patterns. It must support both economic development and a sustainable environment.

8. Guiding Principles • Connecticut’s transportation system must be flexible and responsive enough to meet the transportation needs of a wide variety of customers, including those with special needs. It must leverage innovation and advances in technology in order to improve service and control costs.

9. Guiding Principles • The provision of accurate, timely, information about transportation systems and services is essential to the success of Connecticut’s transportation system.

10. Guiding Principles • Connecticut’s transportation and development investments must support responsible growth, transit oriented development and the State Plan of Conservation and Development.

11. Guiding Principles • Transportation planning, at all levels, must be comprehensive, inclusive and visionary and must maximize the options available to decision makers. Cooperation between local, state and federal organizations and entities must be encouraged. Whenever possible, transportation investments should be coordinated with similar planning and investments in neighboring states.

12. Strategies

13. Strategies • Ensure that the State’s Transportation Investment Areas remain vibrant and competitive economic engines for Connecticut and attractive gateways to the State by leveraging existing transportation and other infrastructure assets, especially in Connecticut’s urban centers, and by focusing appropriate resources on the mitigation and management of road congestion throughout the State with a focus in the near term on the Coastal Corridor.

14. Strategies • Facilitate the movement of people within and through the State by: expanding the quality and quantity of options (e.g. air, bike, bus, ferry, flex-time, rail, ridesharing, telecommuting) to single occupancy automobile trips; encouraging employer participation in demand management programs; enhancing the customer’s transit experience; improving transit travel times through better integration of all transportation options; increasing capacity of roads through continued focus on information, safety, and incident management tools; and expanding targeted portions of certain roads.

15. Strategies • Facilitate the movement of goods to and through the State by: expanding and coordinating the State’s air, rail, road and water infrastructure; improving the flow and safety of commercial truck traffic; and providing a broader range of competitive options to commercial trucks.